


What's in a name?

by Runadaemon



Series: Fluff Week 2020 [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love Square Fluff Week 2020, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, cosplaying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:34:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22674898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runadaemon/pseuds/Runadaemon
Summary: Ladybug could never get Chat Noir to admit how he could identify her.Adrien would be more than happy to tell Marinette.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, eventual - Relationship
Series: Fluff Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625758
Comments: 28
Kudos: 344





	What's in a name?

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure where to end it, but I'm super tired, so I ended it here. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

Love Square Fluff Week Day 6- Cosplayer AU

“Ladybug! Fancy meeting you here, milady!” Ladybug turned from her conversation with a stranger to the young man standing behind her. She hadn’t announced herself yet, and she was absolutely certain the helmet covered everything except her eyes, but she was unsurprised. The black mask and blonde hair were as eye catching as always. No matter how she looked, Chat Noir could always find her at a convention. Chat Noir almost always cosplayed blonde characters with a black mask, and she fondly recalled naming him based on a long ago super hero cosplay from their first meeting.

“Well hello, Chat Noir. You’ve found me yet again. How do you do it?” Ladybug smiled welcomingly. The person she’d been speaking with gasped and began pulling out their phone for photos. Chat Noir seemed to have a sixth sense for finding her. Even when she didn’t announce to her followers that she was attending, or displayed a new and unseen cosplay, Chat Noir could always tell it was her.

“Oh, a Chat will always know his Lady,” Chat Noir smarmed with a knowing smirk. Ladybug playfully glared at him, knowing he would never tell her how he knew. “But more importantly, is that a new cosplay? Ohhh, did you use foam for the headpiece? It looks much lighter than your last one. What’s the armor made from, it really looks like leather!” Chat Noir leaned forward, gushing over Ladybug’s newest attire. Ladybug laughed and turned slowly so he could get a good look at the outfit.

“I did! Foam is excellent. Would you believe this ‘leather’ is also a type of foam? I really lucked out at a secondhand shop a couple of months ago. What do you think?” Ladybug leaned in to better hear Chat over the crowd forming around them. Chat Noir’s ability to find Ladybug was legendary, and had created a phenomenon that often ended up with people following him around the conventions they attended.

Chat reached forward before pausing. “May I?” He asked gallantly. Ladybug giggled at his formality. They’d been in compromising positions for photos so often she could tell you his measurements without ever having taken them, but he still asked before touching her.

“Of course you may, mon Chaton.” Ladybug gave him a regal nod with mock importance, and Chat eagerly pulled the faux leather closer to his eyes. As Chat ooed and aahed over Ladybug’s newest creation, Ladybug kept an eye on the crowd forming around them. When it looked like traffic around them was truly beginning to get blocked, Ladybug gently herded the crowd to a less congested area, and asked if anyone wanted pictures.

Together, Chat Noir and Ladybug posed, made suggestions, thanked fans, and worked their way through the crowd of well-wishers. Only one person attempted to touch Ladybug without permission, and Chat Noir was quick to remind them of manners, so there were no incidents this time.

“Phew, Mon Chaton. I’m beginning to wonder if we should keep meeting like this.” Though her tone was teasing, there was genuine worry behind her eyes, and Chat Noir stood rigidly. Ladybug could tell he didn’t like the idea of not finding each other every month or so.

“What do you mean? Seeing you at conventions throughout the year is my greatest salvation. It’s what keeps me going in the dark of the night! You are my one true beacon of hope, my lady!” Chat Noir’s dramatic rejoinder was flashy, but Ladybug could hear the genuine worry behind it. Taking his hand and sitting on the floor against the wall, Ladybug talked quietly.

“It’s just, I’m starting university next month, Chat. I’m worried I won’t have time for making any new cosplays, let alone time to spend a whole weekend at these crazy conventions…. I love our time together, really I do.” Ladybug looked deeply into his eyes, and saw the sadness he was trying to drown with understanding.

“I promise, I’ll do a convention over winter break, but I think I need a break to start University off on the right foot. I love our meet-ups, Chat. I just need some time right now. Please believe me.”

Chat smiled sadly back at her. “It’s funny you say that. My father is sending me to University as well. He wants me to take over the family business, even if I don’t have as much talent as you carry in your pinkie.” Chat sighed.

“I should probably concentrate on my own University too, you’re right. I’ve always been homeschooled, so I really don’t know how things work, but Milady,” Chat Noir’s grip tightened, and his green eyes bored into her own with sincerity. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Chat. But it’s not forever. I’ll see you over winter break, okay? Why don’t we enjoy this convention extra, to make up for the time we’re gonna be apart?” Ladybug smiled at her favorite fellow cosplayer, and when he smiled back, the tears she’d been fighting finally dried up. With a quick swipe of her hands under her helmet, Ladybug cleared away the moisture and stood.

“So what panels are you dying to attend? Let’s match our schedules!”

*************************************************************************

Adrien Agreste was used to the comments he heard growing up.

“Well, he’s nice, but he’s so…. Bland!”

“Sometimes we have the same conversations over and over, like he doesn’t remember talking to me before!”

“I had to change my shirt midday once, and he ignored me for the rest of the day! If I didn’t look good, he could have just said so!”

Adrien carefully smiled at every person that walked through the classroom door, keeping a close eye on people’s chosen color schemes, their accessories, and in some cases, their unique heights. As someone with well-loved headphones slunk into the seat next to him, Adrien chanced a quiet greeting.

“Hi! Are you a freshman too?” Adrien thought his voice sounded good. Confident, but not cocky. The boy took his headphones off, and looked at Adrien.

“Sorry, what?” Adrien felt his smile become a little more brittle, just a more little scared and nervous. He cleared his throat, gave the best camera worthy smile he knew and tried again.

“I said, Hi! Are you a freshman?” When the boy nodded, Adrien stuck his hand out for a greeting, only to meet the boy’s fist. Flushing in embarrassment, Adrien unwrapped his hand from Nino’s fist, and returned the fist bump while clearly hearing snickering from a few rows behind him.

“I’m Adrien! You are?” The headphone boy smiled back, looking equally embarrassed at their slip up.

“Name’s Nino, dude. You live on campus?” Adrien felt his smile fracture again. He’d been worried commuting from home would alienate him from his peers, but his father refused to bend.

“I uh, I commute from home. You?” Nino scratched under his hat, adjusting it nervously.

“Oh, uh, nah, I live in the Bryant Dorms.” In the awkward silence, Adrien heard a voice he’d recognize anywhere coming from the two girls entering the classroom. Without thought, Adrien stood up, prepared to run to her.

“Ladybug!” Both girls jumped, the one with dark hair whipping her head to stare in shock, and the other with distinctive bushy auburn hair glanced over before holding up her phone proudly.

“Yeah, I got a custom photo of her and put it on the back of my phone. You must be a huge fan too, huh?” The auburn-haired girl approached, and Adrien confusedly looked between the girls. “My name’s Alya! I write articles about her on the Ladyblog, do you know it?”

Adrien froze. “You’re the Ladyblogger?! I LOVE your stories! I’ve read every one! Ladybug is amazing and your blog has the best photos!” With an embarrassed cough, Adrien trailed off, discreetly staring at the blue haired girl. She appeared to be blushing, biting her lip and wiggling in place, but Adrien wasn’t sure.

Ignoring the flush rising on his own cheeks, Adrien determinedly continued. “But you’re always saying you don’t know who Ladybug is, and you’re determined to find her. Did that change?”

By the panic rising on the pigtailed girl’s face, he maybe shouldn’t have said that. Alya laughed though, and smiled at him. “I haven’t figured out who she is just yet. She always manages to disappear on me. Why? Do you have a scoop?” Alya leaned forward and flirtingly tilted Adrien’s chin up, as though demanding his secrets.

“A-A-Alya, you don’t even know who he is, you shouldn’t touch him like that!” Adrien let out a breath of relief when Alya let go of him, looking at the girl he knew was Milady with unadulterated love. He’d found his lady! He’d know her voice anywhere! He could hear Alya laughing at her friend’s odd rules about touching people, and the tentative smile on his face slowly grew.

“What’s your name?” Adrien burst. He couldn’t wait to finally know his Lady in every form. With a wide-eyes stare from blue eyes he fell in love with each time they met, the girl stuttered without actually saying anything. She kept glancing between his hair and eyes, squinting at him as though confused. Adrien bit his lip, before deciding to borrow a bit of his cosplayer side’s confidence.

“My name’s Adrien. And if you can’t give me a name to call you, maybe I could just call you mine?”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a note, I have Adrien here with a ....mental issue where you can't actually recognize faces very well. I have the same issue, and those comments are things I've done or heard from others. It's often called Face Blindness. It's not a serious issue to me, because a lot of ppl walk with a certain stance, but it can be debilitating for others (I've heard). Please be kind, yes its a thing, and usually you find ways around it. I identify people based on their voices and body mechanics. I had Adrien do the same as far as voices, and trying to find 'unique' things about people.


End file.
